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TikTok Ban To Lift If Madras High Court Doesn’t Decide On Plea By April 24: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India directed the Madras High Court to decide on a plea by TikTok seeking a lift over a ban on its application, on April 24. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the ban order will stand vacated if the high court fails to do so.

The apex court had earlier refused to stay the Madras High Court order that directed the Centre to ban the app over concerns about access to pornographic content through it.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Chinese company ByteDance, had told the top court earlier that there were over billion downloads of the mobile app and ex-parte orders were passed by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court.

He had said the court did not even issue a notice in the matter and that an order was passed without hearing them.

The high court had on April 3 directed the Centre to ban mobile application 'TikTok' as it voiced concern over "pornographic and inappropriate content" being made available through such apps.

Even after the havoc caused by the online game Blue Whale, which reportedly led to suicides by several people, officials have not learnt that they should be alert to these types of problems, the high court said.

Only when officials and policy makers were able to act on problems of society, decision could be taken to prevent these kind of apps, it had said.

Voicing concern, the court had said it was evident from media reports that pornography and inappropriate content were made available through such mobile applications.